In sports such as tennis, softball or swimming, many athletes have a high risk of shoulder injury. These injuries often occur due to overuse, poor technique, or fatigue, among other causes. Baseball coaches in particular can find it challenging to keep an injury-free pitcher on the mound, which is crucial to winning games.
“Their arm strength and their fatigue is critical because they are involved in every play,” said Tim Pfeiffer, a high school baseball coach in Chicago, Illinois.
It’s completely ordinary to see today’s athletes throw a javelin hundreds of feet in the air or fire baseballs accurately and in excess of 90 mph dozens of times during a game. However, not every close human relative has that ability to throw, despite the great strength that many possess. Researchers say they traced that ability back to three changes to the waist, shoulder and upper arm that happened about 2 million years ago in the early human Homo erectus.
In the NFL, the risk of concussion is far greater than for almost any other sport. While continued improvements to helmet design and stronger regulations against dangerous play may help limit such risk, one serious issue has yet to be resolved—the return to play. Immense pressure is put on injured players to return to the game as fast as possible, which may ultimately increase the risk of re-injury. Should a player recovering from a concussion return to play too soon, re-injury to the brain could potentially result in permanent mental damage. Thus, it is critical that players who are recovering from a concussion be cleared to play only when their brain has completely healed. Although it may be difficult to...
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced today its intent to solicit interest from companies interested in obtaining license rights to commercialize, manufacture and market an innovative technology for improving athlete performance. Zeroing Out Negative Effects, or ZONE, is an innovative method for improving athletes’ responses to stress, anxiety and loss of concentration during competition. In […]
